Sharing My Good & Honest Moments + GIVEAWAY #GoodandHonest #Motts
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This post is brought to you by Mott’s and The Motherhood. All opinions are my own.
We’ve all been there as parents. Those moments when you know you aren’t the perfect parent. Sometimes things don’t always go as planned so we have to just roll with it. We all have come up with our own little parenting hacks to help us get through the ups and downs of parenthood. Mott’s understands that moms and dads work hard to be the best parents they can be, but sometimes in the balance of life, we falter and recognize that we can’t always be perfect. That’s why they recently launched the Good & Honest campaign with ads sharing some of life’s “parenting truths” moments to uplift parents, share a laugh and acknowledge we all improvise along the way.
I got a laugh at this new campaign because I can totally relate. I am that mom who has made some extremely annoying toy disappear. My sanity is important after all. And I got to thinking of some of the ways I’ve improvised over the years. Here are some of my Good & Honest moments.
Song & Dance
I like to make up songs. When my eight year old was a baby, he cried, a lot. I found that singing to him, even with my terrible voice, helped soothe him. I didn’t know a lot of the words to popular lullabies (and some I found a bit creepy), so I made up my own fun lyrics. They never failed to make me laugh and help me get through a long and sleepless night. Often I couldn’t remember the words I came up with even the next day, but it didn’t matter.
I have continued with this tradition with all my kids, even as they have gotten older. If they are having a bad day or simply need a distraction, I will bust into a silly song and dance. I have no problems embarrassing myself and most of the time it works to make them smile. I think this helps me release stress as much as it helps them.
Child Labor
I love taking a task that would normally be called a chore, and making it into something fun. Thankfully my youngest enjoys helping me out. Tasks like loading the dishwasher or doing the laundry are fun for him. Last week I caught Wes eyeing the sticks in the backyard. I suggested we pick them all up for daddy to help him out. He was a very enthusiastic helper and thought picking up sticks was a blast!
I wish I could say I’m a master at this still with my older kids who have figured out these tasks are actually chores, but I’m working on it.
Goodbye Artwork
I’ve learned the hard way that I can’t let my kids see me throw anything they’ve created away because it suddenly becomes their most prized possession. I admit I feel a little guilty discarding their artwork, but I really can’t keep it all. Out of sight, out of mind totally works. I’ve thrown away a ton of stuff they’ve never asked about, but I have to be stealth like when doing it. Folding it up, putting it in with other papers, shoving it to the bottom, all of them work. I just don’t make the mistake of leaving it on the top of the recycling bin unless I want a, “How could you?” kind of response followed by a wave of guilt.
Mott’s celebrates parents everywhere who are doing the best they can every day for their kids. Since 1842, Mott’s has proudly created delicious and nutritious products for adults and children and continues to provide “simple solutions” to meet the needs of today’s busy families with products like Mott’s Original, Mott’s for Tots, Mott’s Naturals Mott’s Juice drinks, Mott’s Healthy Harvest Sauce and Mott’s Snack & Go Applesauce Pouches. My kids are big fans of Mott’s Original apple juice, and I love to buy their natural applesauce with no additional sweeteners added.
WIN IT:
Got your own Good & Honest moments? Enter by sharing yours for the chance to win a $50 gift card and Mott’s product! (No judgments here, honest!)
Let my kids eat cereal for dinner, too often. Or only ready the first line on the page of a book at bedtime.
Sugar in a tsp of medicine. Yes I did.
I add veggies to quesadilla so they do not see it, but add lots of cheese!
I laughed at the question because EVERYTHING I do is a game with my son! He’s a challenge. He’s always requesting videos, so instead I let him hold them and that seems to make him happy enough. I could honestly name 100’s just from today.
Naptime had to convince her I was napping too. She just didn’t want to miss anything.
If he is not eating his food-which he has eaten and liked before-I just act like I am scooping out of a container of food that he does like and feed him the other food which is already on the spoon.
I used to sneak pureed veggies in wherever I could to get the kids to eat them like pureed sweet potato in spaghetti sauce.
When my son tries to resist napping, I tell him that he doesn’t have to sleep — he just has to lay in bed and “rest”. He’s even allowed to have some small toys or books, but within 10 minutes he’s asleep.
This isn’t something I came up with myself — my mom told me she did that with me when I was a toddler.
NO HACKS, NO TIPS. I WAS LUCKY I LIVED THRU IT! I HAD FOUR CHILDREN ALL BY THE TIME I WAS 22. YES, 22. THEY ARE ALL AMAZING, COLLEGE EDUCATED, SELF SUPPORTING ADULTS WITH CHILDREN OF THEIR OWN NOW. AND I MARVEL AT THE FACT THAT THEY ARE MINE OFFSPRING EVERY TIME I SEE THEM
My one daughter does not eat any fruits. She absolutely loves the smoothies that I make (that are loaded with fruit)!
try to get them to eat all kinds of vegetables
I am ashamed to say this, so many parents like me sometimes need to get things done. While having or avoiding a melt down moment in public. I whip out the handy iPhone and just hand it to my little one. I try not to but it makes a huge difference!
I found my kids would load up on veggies if they had a healthy dip for them.
I always add veggies to my cooking and dice them so small they don’t see them
Well, When my kids toys are too loud and end up being annoying, especially the ones they say the same thing over and over; which can drive you crazy, sometimes they come up missing, and I just replace them with something else. They ask me where the toy went, and I just say, “Hey look at this new toy!”
Not a parent so I don’t have a good tip, but I personally love Motts Apple Juice!
My Good and Honest parenting moment comes when I accidentally forgot to pack a snack for my son (I had everything else in the diaper bag.) Thank goodness a Motts applesauce pouch was found in my purse! My son gobbled it down.
Another “honest” moment is when I always use applesauce to get my sons to take their medications. It has such a great flavor, they can hardly taste the medicine.
We would negotiate with how many bites of his meal he ate with how many pages I read of his favorite stories.
None of my kids enjoyed taking medicine so I always had to disguise it any way possible. I usually mixed it in with something, it worked mot of the time. I had disguise veggies a lot too because my son was so picky.
When my kids were little and did not want to eat vegetables, I would cook the vegetables then mix in the blender with a gravy mix and add to stew meat. They never knew they were eating vegetables.